"was dropped, but Maga was still guilty of corruption. Following a March 1964 retrial, Maga was let out of prison and went into exile in Paris. 1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état The 1963 Dahomey coup d'état was staged on October 28, 1963, by Christophe Soglo, who took control of the Republic of Dahomey to prevent a civil war. He overthrew Hubert Maga, whose presidency faced extreme economic stagnation and a host of other problems. The West African colony of French Dahomey, the present-day nation of Benin, was largely ignored by the French during its colonial era in French West Africa. Dahomey"
"paid in cowrie shells. During the 19th century, palm oil was the main trading commodity. France conquered Dahomey during the Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) and established a colonial government there. Most of the troops who fought against Dahomey were native Africans. Traditionally, the Yoruba people viewed themselves as the inhabitants of a united empire, in contrast to the situation today, in which ""Yoruba"" is the cultural-linguistic designation for speakers of a language in the Niger–Congo family. The name comes from a Hausa word to refer to the Oyo Empire. The first Yoruba state was Ile-Ife, said to have been founded"
"Dahomey became an overseas territory with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly. On 4 December 1958, it became the Republic of Dahomey (""République du Dahomey""), self-governing within the French Union. On 1 August 1960, the Republic of Dahomey gained full independence from France. The republic's first president was Hubert Maga, who had been the Prime Minister during the overseas territory's last year under French rule. French Dahomey French Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth"
"and trade with Europeans. King Agadja (1708–1740) attempted to end the slave trade by keeping the slaves on plantations producing palm oil, but the European profits on slaves and Dahomey's dependency on firearms were too great. In 1730, under king Agaja, Dahomey was conquered by the Oyo Empire, and Dahomey had to pay tribute. Taxes on slaves were mostly paid in cowrie shells. During the 19th century, palm oil was the main trading commodity. France conquered Dahomey during the Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) and established a colonial government there. Most of the troops who fought against Dahomey were native Africans."
"a King or Queen, and there are many recorded cases of hundreds or even thousands of slaves being sacrificed at such events. Sacrifices were particularly common in Dahomey, in the Benin Empire, in what is now Ghana, and in the small independent states in what is now southern Nigeria. According to Rudolph Rummel, ""Just consider the Grand Custom in Dahomey: When a ruler died, hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of prisoners would be slain. In one of these ceremonies in 1727, as many as 4,000 were reported killed. In addition, Dahomey had an Annual Custom during which 500 prisoners were sacrificed."""
"The Republic of Dahomey became independent of France on 1 August 1960. In the words of the historian Martin Meredith, the young country ""was encumbered with every imaginable difficulty: a small strip of territory jutting inland from the coast, it was crowded, insolvent and beset by tribal divisions, huge debts, unemployment, frequent strikes and an unending struggle for power between three rival political leaders"". These rivals were Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, who held sway in the southern and central regions of the country, Sourou-Migan Apithy, who dominated the southeast, and Hubert Maga, whose power base was located in the north. Upon independence,"
"Dahomey became an overseas territory with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly. On December 4, 1958, it became the République du Dahomey, self-governing within the French Community. On 11 July 1960 France agreed to Dahomey becoming fully independent. Dahomey declared independence on 1 August 1960. Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kérékou as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. By 1975 the Republic of Dahomey changed its name to the People's Republic of Benin. The"
"Ghezo Ghezo or Gezo was King of the Dahomey, in present-day Benin, from 1818 until 1858. Ghezo replaced his brother Adandozan (who ruled from 1797 to 1818) as king through a coup with the assistance of the Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Sousa. He ruled over the kingdom during a tumultuous period, punctuated by the British blockade of the ports of Dahomey in order to stop the Atlantic slave trade. Ghezo finally ended Dahomey's tributary status to the Oyo empire but also dealt with significant domestic dissent and pressure from the British to end the slave trade. He promised"
"History of Benin The Republic of Benin was formed in 1960 when the colony of French Dahomey gained independence from France. Prior to this, the area that is now the Republic of Benin was divided largely between two coastal kingdoms, Dahomey and Porto-Novo, and a large area of various tribes in the north. The French assembled these various groups together into the colony of French Dahomey, which was part of the various colonies of French West Africa from 1904 until 1960. In the independence era, the republic was extremely unstable for the first decade and a half of existence, with"
"in Great Britain, King Guézo (1818–1858) initiated agricultural development in the country, which resulted in further economic prosperity of the kingdom achieved through exports of agricultural products such as corn and palm oil. In 1892-1894, France invaded Dahomey. Initially, Dahomey won many battles when even the chief of the French army was killed. However, Dahomey finally succumbed to the forces of the French Army. It became a colony of France. King Béhanzin, the last independent reigning king of Dahomey, after getting defeated by the French colonial forces, set fire to Abomey. The French eventually deported him to Martinique. His successor"
"King Agooli Agbo could rule only till his deportation to Gabon in 1900. In 1960, when the present day Bénin attained independence from France, it originally bore the name Dahomey. The official history of the kingdom were recorded and followed through a series of polychrome earthen bas-reliefs. Dahomean culture was deep rooted with intense reverence for the kings of Dahomey and with great religious significance. Each king was symbolised on a ""common appliquéd quilt"". Ceremonies were part of the culture; with human sacrifice as one of the practice. The town where the palaces were built was surrounded by a mud"
"origin, meaning ""New Port"". It was originally developed as a port for the slave trade. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Dahomey had begun to weaken and lose its status as the regional power. This enabled the French to take over the area in 1892. In 1899, the French included the land called French Dahomey within the larger French West Africa colonial region. In 1958, France granted autonomy to the Republic of Dahomey, and full independence on 1 August 1960, which is celebrated each year as Independence Day, a national holiday. The president who led the country to independence"
"Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west. The origins of the Oyo Empire lie with Oranyan (also known as Oranmiyan), the last prince of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife (Ife). Oranyan made an agreement with his brother to launch a punitive raid on their northern neighbors for insulting their father Oduduwa, the first Ooni of Ife. On the way to the battle, the brothers quarreled and the army split up. Oranyan's force was too small to make a successful attack, so he wandered the southern shore until reaching Bussa. There the local chief entertained him and provided"
"Dakodonou Dakodonou or ""Dakodonu"" or ""Dako Donu"" was an early king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, ruling from around 1620 until 1645. Oral tradition recounts that Dakodonu was the son of Do-Aklin, the founder of the royal dynasty of Dahomey, and the father to Houegbadja, often considered the founder of the Kingdom of Dahomey. In addition, it is said that Dakodonu killed a local chieftain and founded the capital city upon the site. However, some recent historical analysis contends that Dakodonu was added into the royal line in the 18th century to legitimize the ruling dynasty over"
"establishment within his kingdom, Afonso I of Kongo believed that the slave trade should be subject to Kongo law. When he suspected the Portuguese of receiving illegally enslaved persons to sell, he wrote letters to the King João III of Portugal in 1526 imploring him to put a stop to the practice. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, who otherwise may have been killed in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs. As one of West Africa's principal slave states, Dahomey became extremely unpopular with neighbouring peoples. Like the Bambara Empire to the east, the"
"considered one of the great kings in Dahomey history and is remembered as the ""great warrior"". His expansions of Dahomey and connections with European traders led to his depiction in Dahomey art as a European caravel boat. Agaja Agaja (also spelled Agadja and also known as Trudo Agaja or Trudo Audati) was a king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, who ruled from 1718 until 1740. He came to the throne after his brother King Akaba. During his reign, Dahomey expanded significantly and took control of key trade routes for the Atlantic slave trade by conquering Allada (1724)"
"rebuild the army and its amazon corps until the French chose Béhanzin's brother, Goutchili, as the new king. King Béhanzin surrendered to the French on January 15, 1894 and was exiled to Martinique. The war had officially ended. Second Franco-Dahomean War The Second Franco-Dahomean War, which raged from 1892 to 1894, was a major conflict between the French Third Republic, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and the Kingdom of Dahomey under King Béhanzin. The French emerged triumphant and incorporated Dahomey into their growing colonial territory of French West Africa. In 1890, the Fon kingdom of Dahomey and the French Third"
"the kingdom of Dahomey through militarily suppressing revolts and creating administrative and ceremonial systems. Agaja died in 1740 after another war with the Oyo Empire and his son Tegbessou became the new king. Agaja is credited with creating many of the key government structures of Dahomey, including the ""Yovogan"" and the ""Mehu"". The motivations of Agaja and his involvement with the slave trade remain an active dispute among historians of Dahomey with some arguing that he was resistant to the slave trade but agreed to it because of the need to defend his kingdom, while others argue that no such"
"Agaja Agaja (also spelled Agadja and also known as Trudo Agaja or Trudo Audati) was a king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, who ruled from 1718 until 1740. He came to the throne after his brother King Akaba. During his reign, Dahomey expanded significantly and took control of key trade routes for the Atlantic slave trade by conquering Allada (1724) and Whydah (1727). Wars with the powerful Oyo Empire to the east of Dahomey resulted in Agaja accepting tributary status to that empire and providing yearly gifts. After this, Agaja attempted to control the new territory of"
"Dahomey, the Buganda Kingdom (Uganda), and the Kingdom of Kongo, all of which were annexed by imperial powers under the belief that they required European stewardship, as proposed and justified in the essay ""The African Character"" (1830), by G. W. F. Hegel, in keeping with his philosophic opinion that cultures were stages in the course of the historical unfolding of The Absolute. Nigeria was the homeland of the Hausa people, the Yoruba people and the Igbo people; which last were among the first people to develop their history in constructing a postcolonial identity. (See: ""Things Fall Apart"", 1958). About East"
"into the French ""colony of Dahomey and its dependencies."" In 1900, it became Dahomey's capital city. The kings of Porto-Novo continued to rule in the city, both officially and unofficially, until the death of the last king, Alohinto Gbeffa, in 1976. From 1908, the king held the title of ""Chef supérieur."" Many Afro-Brazilians settled in Porto-Novo following their return to Africa after emancipation in Brazil. Brazilian architecture and foods are important to the city's cultural life. Benin's parliament (""Assemblée nationale"") is in Porto-Novo, the official capital, but Cotonou is the seat of government, with most of the governmental ministries. Porto-Novo"
"the Dutch to organize a significant army of many tribes to the west of Dahomey which destroyed Agaja's forces in 1737 but did not destroy the kingdom. Starting in 1730 but becoming formal in 1733 all slaves could only be sold through representatives of the king. This royal monopoly led to some revolts by important chiefs who were not receiving full prices for their goods and Agaja crushed multiple rebellions between 1733 and 1740. The royal monopoly proved unpopular and, following the defeat of Agaja's forces in 1737, he was forced to allow the free trade of slaves through Dahomey."
"was later destroyed in 1900 by British superior weaponry and organisation following the four Anglo-Ashanti wars. The Dahomey Kingdom was founded in the early 17th century CE when the Aja people of the Allada kingdom moved northward and settled among the Fon. They began to assert their power a few years later. In so doing they established the Kingdom of Dahomey, with its capital at Agbome. King Houegbadja (c. 1645–1685) organised Dahomey into a powerful centralised state. He declared all lands to be owned of the king and subject to taxation. Primogeniture in the kingship was established, neutralising all input"
"by being so early and clearly provenanced, is a carved wooden tray (not dissimilar to much more recent examples) in Ulm, Germany, which was brought to Europe before 1659, when it was described in a printed catalogue. The Kingdom of Dahomey has been depicted in a number of different literary works of fiction or creative nonfiction. ""In Dahomey"" (1903) was a successful Broadway musical, the first full-length Broadway musical written entirely by African Americans, in the early 20th century. Novelist Paul Hazoumé's first novel ""Doguicimi"" (1938) was based on decades of research into the oral traditions of the Kingdom of"
"Agonglo Agonglo was a King of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, from 1789 until 1797. Agonglo took over from his father King Kpengla in 1789 and inherited many of the economic problems that developed during Kpengla's reign. Because of the poor economy, Agonglo was often constrained by domestic opposition. As a response, he reformed many of the economic policies (lowered taxes and removed constrains on the slave trade) and did military expeditions to try to increase the supply for the Atlantic slave trade. Many of these efforts were unsuccessful and European traders became less active in the ports"
"Dahomey complied by limiting some of the slave trade. However, even with this, the empire was a significant player in the slave trade supplying up to 20% of the total slave trade and providing the largest portion of revenue for the king. In 1818, King Ghezo (reign 1818-1858) came to the throne by forcibly replacing his older brother Adandozan. Crucial in Ghezo's rise to power was the financial and military assistance of Francisco Félix de Sousa, a prominent Brazilian slave trader located in Whydah. As a result, Ghezo named de Sousa the ""chacha"" or viceroy of trade in Whydah providing"
"of King Agaja of Dahomey. On 19 March 1727, the ""Boston News-Letter"" gave this report: ""WHYDAH IN AFRICA: the beginning of this month, Agaja the king of Dahomey came down unexpectedly with an army, and soon became master of this place, and the country adjacent Allada; the defoliation which ensued was so great, that it is impossible to be represented! The factory at Saber, once the king's town and Seat of Trade, was burnt to the ground, and in it a great quantity of merchandise. Forty Europeans were carried into captivity, to the King of Dahomey's camp at Ardrah, but"
"Do-Aklin Do-Aklin or Gangnihessou (Ganye Hessou) or Dogbari is claimed as the founder of the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in present-day Benin and the first person in the royal lineage of the Kings of Dahomey (the Aladaxonou dynasty). In many versions he is considered the first king of Dahomey even though the kingdom was founded after his death. Very little is known about Do-Aklin and most of it is connected to folklore, but it is generally claimed that he settled a large group of Aja people from Allada on the Abomey plateau amongst the local inhabitants in ""c."" 1620. His"
"Edo people of the west Niger area were run by a group of local chieftains, but by the 15th century a single ruler known as the 'oba' had asserted control, creating the Kingdom of Dahomey. Under the dynasty established by Ewuare the Great, the most famous of the obas, Dahoney's territory expanded to cover a region between the Niger River delta and what is now the Nigerian city of Lagos. The obas brought great prosperity and a highly organized state to Benin. They also established good relations and an extensive slave trade with the Portuguese and Dutch who arrived from"
"Kingdom of Dahomey was referred to by many different names and has been written in a variety of ways, including ""Danxome"", ""Danhome"", and ""Fon"". The name ""Fon"" relates to the dominant ethnic and language group, the Fon people, of the royal families of the kingdom and is how the kingdom first became known to Europeans. The names ""Dahomey"", ""Danxome"", and ""Danhome"" all have a similar origin story, which historian Edna Bay says may be a false etymology. The story goes that Dakodonu, considered the second king in modern kings lists, was granted permission by the Gedevi chiefs, the local rulers,"
"Dahomey, a ceremony centered on tributes given to royal ancestors, Houegbadja was the first king recognized. He named his oldest son Akaba as his heir and upon his death around 1685, Akaba came to power. Houegbadja Houegbadja or Wegbaja or Aho was a King in the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, from around 1645 until 1685. Houegbadja followed his father Dakodonu to the throne and formed much of the administration and religious practices for the Kingdom of Dahomey. Because of this he is often credited as the First King of Dahomey. The rise of Houegbadja to the throne is"
"considered that Hangbe was the main person responsible for the creation of the Dahomey Amazons, a military unit composed entirely of women. Most scholars do not consider this likely. She is not included in any kings lists for the Kingdom of Dahomey. Hangbe Hangbe (or ""Hangbè"", also ""Ahangbe"" or ""Na Hangbe"") was the Ruler of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, for a brief period before Agaja came to power in 1718. Little is known about her because her rule was largely erased from the official Dahomey history and much that is known is brought together by various different"
"Cayor, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Kongo, Empire of Kaabu, Kingdom of Ile Ife, Ancient Carthage, Numidia, Mauretania, and the Aksumite Empire. At its peak, prior to European colonialism, it is estimated that Africa had up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs.<ref name=""http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/31/getting-to-know-africa-50-facts/"">Africa Information</ref> From the mid-7th century, the Arab slave trade saw Muslim Arabs enslave Africans. Following an armistice between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Kingdom of Makuria after the Second Battle of Dongola in 652 AD, they were transported, along with Asians and Europeans, across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara"